Lord Prescott eventually revealed that food was actually a problem for him

John Prescott gained fame for his two Jaguars, his ready fists - and his love of food.

But it only emerged yesterday that the roly-poly Labour politician’s fascination with eating appears to have had a long-term legacy for the Government.

Astonishingly, when the now Lord Prescott was Deputy Prime Minister, his department signed a contract specifying that vending machines in his official buildings must contain ‘top selling brands’ of chocolate.

The revelation was made in the House of Commons yesterday in response to a question about the standard of food sold inside Lord Prescott’s former department.

Communities Minister Brandon Lewis said that the Deputy Prime Minister’s office signed a facilities management contract in 2004 with the specific request for leading chocolate brands, which coalition Government ministers regard as ‘over-specification’.

Mr Lewis’s response was included in a reply to a written parliamentary question which questioned how many vending machines in the Department for Communities and Local Government’s (DCLG) offices - which came under Lord Prescott’s remit - contain snack food.

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Mr Lewis, commenting on vending machines, wrote: ‘We don’t intend to adopt a nanny state approach by removing them. Our catering supplier provides healthy eating options in our canteen, including fresh and seasonal produce. This Government believes in choice in public services.

When Lord Prescott was Deputy Prime Minister, his department signed a contract specifying that vending machines in his official buildings must contain 'top selling brands' of chocolate

There is one vending machine in each of DCLG's core offices in Victoria and Bristol, which serve confectionery and snacks.

‘I would observe that the Office of the
Deputy Prime Minister signed a facilities management contract in 2004
which required that there ‘must be top-selling brands’ of chocolate in
the vending machine for the First Secretary of State.

‘Ministers in this administration would regard that as over-specification.’

Mr Lewis confirmed there is one vending machine in each of DCLG’s core offices in Victoria and Bristol, which serve confectionery and snacks.

He was replying to a question from Labour MP Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth).

She asked had asked Communities Secretary Eric Pickles: ‘How many vending machines in your department’s premises contain snack food that are high in calories and low in nutritional value?’

Well-nourished Pickles has himself recently joked about his own eating habits, posing for a Twitter photograph next to an ironically healthy snack of salad and carrot sticks.

But Lord Prescott, while famous for his love of fattening Chinese food, eventually revealed that food was actually a problem for him.

He revealed in 2008 that he had become bulimic, gorging huge meals then making himself sick so he could keep on eating. And chocolate bars were part of his unhealthy diet that took him to 16 stone.

Lord Prescott said: ‘What I did was stuff my face with anything around, any old rubbish - burgers, chocolate, crisps, fish and chips, loads of it, till I felt sick. But at least I’d had the pleasure of stuffing my face and feeling really full.’

He would wash down his binge meals with an entire can of condensed milk - and even went to McDonalds for a Big Mac after wolfing down a huge state banquet.